Former Ball State coach Ronny Thompson

If anybody is owed an apology it is the fans, alumni and supporters of Ball State University for handing over the reigns of the once-proud Cardinals program to a coach who was about to get the axe as the second assistant on Stan Heath's staff at Arkansas. Instead of being shown the door, Thompson got the break of a lifetime.

Of course the real apology should come from the man at the heart of this ridiculous saga, former head basketball coach Ron "Don't Call Me Ronny" Thompson. But we are more likely to see palm trees growing in Muncie before that happens.

Five months after Thompson mercifully walked away from his post as the head coach at Ball State, the school released the findings of an investigation contracted by the school into, presumably, Thompson's "Complaint of Unlawful Discrimination." The school contracted with the law firm of Ice Miller LLP and specifically, former Indiana Supreme Court Justice Myra Selby, to act as special counsel in the investigation. And what did the investigation reveal? Well, not all that much. Which is just the point.

Most importantly, the report found there was no basis at all for Thompson's complaint about Ball State fostering, or even unwittingly harboring, an atmosphere of racial intolerance. Further, the report found there was a legitimate basis for the school to self-report the secondary violations that were allegedly committed by Thompson and his staff and that there was no basis in fact for Thompson' s allegation that the school's investigation into the secondary violations was in retaliation for a complaint of racial harassment.

The report issued by Selby also correctly notes that the school had an obligation under NCAA rules to self-report the potential violations. The school does not come through unscathed however as the report does identify, although the names are redacted in the public release of the report, an employee or employees who may have compromised the investigation by acting in a less than professional manner during the investigation process.

In other words, somebody had it out for Thompson which is hardly a big surprise considering how Thompson had run roughshod over just about everybody that came in contact with him at Ball State, from the secretary to the equipment manager and even local businessmen. Thompson hardly ingratiated himself in the Muncie community but that is not to excuse improper behavior toward Thompson or the investigation.

So now here we are five months after Thompson bailed out at Ball State after leading the Cardinals to a 9-22 record, the most losses ever in one season at Ball State.

The Cardinals' basketball program has been set back and is currently struggling through the longest losing streak (16 games as of this writing) in the school history. The good news is that the program is now under the control of a decent, dedicated hardworking coach in Billy Taylor. Hopefully the folks at Ball State will be patient because it will likely take several years for Taylor to undo the damage caused by Thompson in one year.

From repairing broken recruiting ties within Indiana to restocking the team with legitimate division one talent, the task of rebuilding Cardinals basketball will be an arduous one. But if anybody really still questions whether racism played a role in Thompson's failure at Ball State, one needs to only recall the words of Ball State's fifth year senior guard, and team leader, Peyton Stovall who spoke about Thompson's attitude to columnist Jason Whitlock and offered this insight into the mindset of the son of Big John Thompson:

            "He told us not to trust in (white people) and that they weren't trying to help us, He told us that on many different occasions. I don't know if he had a reason why, but it just came out. We'd be in a meeting or at his house or something and it would just basically come out of nowhere. I thought he had prejudged everybody before he got there."

There were certainly some preconceived notions about race at Ball State and they were coming from the head coach. Yep, there's a man you want leading young men in the formative stages of their lives.

In the wake of this mess, Ball State issues an apology to Thompson. To quote the release, "Ball State wishes to extend its sincere apology for the unprofessional and unauthorized behavior of its employees that led to his resignation, for the unfortunate distress that resulted from these actions, and for the unwarranted negative effect on his reputation."

Please.

The University has also sidestepped the question of whether a financial settlement has been reached with Thompson, inviting reporters to file an open records request to obtain this information.

Finally, there was the issue of the alleged racial notes that were left under the coaching staff's door. Many have suspected that the origin of those letters was within the very office within which they were allegedly left. Selby's investigation was not able to turn up a culprit. Such a finding, or lack thereof, does not come as a surprise to those who have actively followed this red herring hunt.

The matter hopefully can now be put to bed. It is just unfortunate that Ball State felt it necessary to issue an apology to the very person who created 90% of the situation himself with accountability being tossed aside for the sake of political and legal expediency.

The half-truths and lies that Thompson fed to the national media about Ball State (remember the one about BSU not having any basketballs?) and which some members of the press willingly swallowed, also apparently hold no consequence.

The only consequence appears to be the price being paid by the fans and supporters of Ball State, both on the court and elsewhere.